Love and Music
by Hoarse Swan
Summary: Involving love and music. Pain, and sorrow relieved by their one and only love: music. But is it really their one and only love? Or do they love each other as well?
1. Play to the Angels

A/N:  I really have no idea where this came from or where it's going.  If you do, please inform me in reviews.  Thank you.

Disclaimer:  I don't own these characters.  Don't sue me.  Well, it wouldn't work anyway, because I'm broke.  *turns out empty pockets*

*~*~*~*

            Draco slid out the window of the boy's dormitory, a silver cornet with gold fastenings hooked to his belt.  He climbed up to the rooftop of the tower, where he stood and looked out to the sky.  Stars glinted merrily at him, silver dots in the midnight sky.  The air was crisp and cool, just how Draco liked it.  A slight breeze ruffled his loose, blonde locks.  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  

            He unhooked the silver cornet and put it to his lips.  He had always loved music.  More than anything in the world.  There was only one thing that he loved as much as music.  And that was her.  

            He closed his eyes again and buzzed his lips into the mouthpiece.  A beautiful, wavering note pierced the night with its pure tone quality.  Draco pressed down the valves and the note changed.  He sank slowly to sit on the rooftop as the notes turned into a song.  The sweet, sorrowful melody of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" pierced the air as Draco played and played and played.  He let the music overwhelm him and a single tear rolled down his soft cheek.  He played song after song, all melancholy tunes.  "Sunrise, Sunset," "Beauty and the Beast," "Colors of the Wind," "Tears in Heaven," "Piano Man," "A Whole New World," and many others came from the boy with silver eyes and a sleek, silver cornet with gold fastenings.

*~*~*

            Hermione opened the window and slowly crawled out, a long, silver flute with gold fastenings dangling from her slim waist.  She climbed up to the roof of the girl's dormitory tower and stood there for a few minutes, gazing out at the deep blue heavens.  Stars sparkled brightly at her, shining with the happiness that she once had.  The air was crisp and cool, and she loved it.  A soft breeze blew her hair away from her face as she closed her eyes.

            She brought the silver flute to her lips and blew gently.  A sweet, mellow note reached her ears.  Hermione had always loved music.  She loved it more than anything.  There was only one thing she loved as much as music and that was him.

            She closed her eyes again and continued to blow across the mouthpiece.  She sat slowly on the roof and played and played and played.  She played sad songs, such as "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," "Yesterday," "Sunrise, Sunset," "Beauty and the Beast," "Colors of the Wind," "Tears in Heaven," "Piano Man," "A Whole New World," and many others.  If anyone was to see her there, and hear her play the silver flute with gold fastenings, they would think it was the most melancholy sight and sound in the world.

*~*~*~*


	2. Scars of the Past

Disclaimer:  See chapter one

*~*~*~*

Chapter Two

            As dawn was breaking, Draco crept back into his dormitory and put the silver cornet with gold fastenings into its case.  He then silently slid between the blankets of his bed and waited for the other boys to get up.  He eventually got lost in his thoughts and his mind drifted slowly towards the Gryffindor tower, where she lay, fast asleep.  Oh, how wrong he was.

            For Hermione Granger was not asleep, she was far from it.  In fact, she still sat on the roof of the Gryffindor tower, watching the sun rise.  The silver flute with gold fastenings lay across her lap, shining in the dull morning light.  She sat like this for a few more minutes and then climbed back through the window, put the silver flute back into its case, and awaited the sun's bright rays through the window.  She drifted into an uneasy sleep and dreamed of that summer past.

*~Flashback~*

            _"Daddy, no!"__  Hermione screamed at the man advancing toward her, fitting brass knuckles onto his hand.  Hermione screamed as the brass collided with her body, over and over again.  Pain ripped through her weary body as she cried, yelling for help.  But there was no one who could help her.  Her mother had died of pneumonia and her father had blamed her for it.  _

_            "Hold still, you little bitch!"  Her father yelled.  Then he picked up a knife and dragged it along her stomach, warm red blood staining the steel blade.  Then there was the whip, slicing across her back over and over again.  Hermione blacked out._

_*~End flashback~*_

Hermione reached under the back of her shirt, feeling the scars that intertwined across her back.  A single tear rolled down her soft, almost flawless cheek.  _Almost flawless.  For ever so faintly, and hardly visible, a thin, white scar drew from the corner of her perfect lips to the outer corner of her deep, brown eye._

            Her scars were deep and she knew from the bottom of her heart that they would always be there.  She seemed such a happy, painless youth, but inside, she was torn and bleeding.  The scars on her skin were only small fragments of the scars on her heart and mind.  To deal with all of her pain, she played music, any kind, anywhere, on any instrument, or she sang, her sweet voice relieving her briefly.  But then she would get tired or had to stop for some reason and the pain would only come back, worse by one hundred fold.  

            And little did she know that the same cycle was used for another.  Another person shared the same kind of pain that she did.  Another person played music to relieve himself of all his pain.


	3. Balance of the Music

A/N- An idea just hit me, like lightning.  BAM!  Just like that.  Tell me what you think.

Disclaimer- See chapter one.

*~*~*~*

            Hermione sighed and kept walking, the silver flute with gold fastenings hooked to her waist under Harry's borrowed invisibility cloak.  It was late and Hermione was going into the forbidden forest, to climb a tree and play there.  She liked to move around a bit, not keep in the same place for too long.  She might get discovered.  She wouldn't want that.

            She stepped into the forest and sighed again.  Once she got a little deeper into the thick grove of trees, she pulled the cloak off and let the cool night air blow across her cheeks.  She found a suitable climbing tree almost immediately, a tall oak with thick, low branches.  

            She grasped the lowest branch with one hand and found another handhold for her other and hauled herself into the tree.  She climbed ever higher, not stopping until she reached about halfway up the trunk, where there was a thick, sturdy branch that she could lean on without worrying about falling.  She inhaled deeply and put the silver flute with gold fastenings to her lips.  She blew softly and relished in the mellow sound of the instrument.  Out of all of the instruments she played, flute was her favorite, tenor sax a close second.

            Hermione began to play.  By the time she got to playing "A Whole New World," there was another person in the forest.  She didn't know this, but Draco Malfoy had chosen to sit under a tree not too far from where she was.  He had just arrived when she started this song.  And when she got to the end, where there was a call and answer section, he played as well.  

            The flute called and the trumpet answered, the flute called and the trumpet answered, the flute called and the trumpet answered.  Then both instruments played in harmony.  The flute held the last note and the trumpet had a small solo at the very end.  Then the music stopped as each of them waited for the other to make the next move.

            Finally, Draco broke the silence with, "Please come out from wherever you are hiding."  

            Hermione froze and almost fell from her branch.  She recognized that voice, but she had never heard it pleading.  For its owner was egotistical and only said things that put others down.

            She slowly stepped down from her perch, careful to hook the silver flute with gold fastenings to her waist and grab the invisibility cloak.

            She landed catlike on the hard ground and unhooked the flute, clutching it to her chest.  She left the invisibility cloak on the ground and stepped into the moonlight.  She looked up at Draco, puzzlement written across her face.  For some reason, the thin, white scar on her face was more visible in the moonlight.

            "Here to gloat, Malfoy?"  Hermione asked.

            "No," He paused and then said, "Hermione."  Hermione's eyes widened at his use of her given name.  

            His eyes traced the scar on her cheek, but he didn't say anything about it.  He knew that she would be sensitive about it, just like he was sensitive about his scars.


	4. Beginning of the Friendship

A/N- Please review.  I don't care if it's good or bad, just please review.

Disclaimer- See chapter one

*~*~*~*

            "Then what are you here for?"  Hermione inquired.

            "The same reason you are," Draco replied smoothly.  She could tell that he was looking at the scar on her cheek.

            "You mean to say that you are here to relieve yourself of all the pain of your past through your music only to have it wash back over you like a wave washes over the beach.  To have all that pain come back one hundred times worse when you stop playing the music?"  Hermione asked.  "I don't think so."

            "Well, I do," he answered.  "And if that's why you're here, I think we should become better acquainted."

            "Are you flirting with me?" she asked.

            "If you think I am, it isn't intentional," he said truthfully.

            Hermione didn't say anything for a few moments.  Then, "How can you, of all people, feel pain?  You have everything anyone could possibly want:  parents that love you, good marks, a place on the Quidditch team, and members of the opposite gender throwing themselves at you, groveling at your feet."

            "Oh, how little you know me, Miss Hermione," he said.  "I don't have parents that love me.  You have good marks as well, don't you?  My place on the Quidditch team means nothing to me.  And you don't realize it, but members of the opposite gender grovel at your feet as well.  There are guys who would do anything for you.  They would lay their lives down for you.  You're so beautiful, intelligent, kind, trustworthy, and talented."

            Hermione gaped at him.  "You flatter me," she said flatly.

            "I just want a friend.  You can't really call Crabbe and Goyle friends.  They're just boulders, waiting for someone to insult me so they can beat them to a pulp.  I want real friends who care about me and I care about.  I want friends like yours.  Harry and Ron care about you so much, Hermione.  And all I want is for someone to care about me as much as they care about you," his voice was soft and gentle.  This was a side of him that Hermione had never seen before.

            She looked at the ground for a few moments then said, "If you'll excuse me, I was kind of in the middle of something."  She turned to go, but a hand wrapped around her upper arm, holding her back.  She turned again to stare straight into a pair of crystalline silver- blue eyes that were full of emotion. 

            "Let me play with you, Hermione," Draco pleaded.  Hermione recognized some of the emotions in his deep blue eyes:  pain, and sorrow.  But there was something she didn't recognize there, too.  No one had ever looked at her as Draco Malfoy looked at her now.

            She turned to face him fully and said, "Let me see your trumpet."

            "I'll trade you, trumpet for flute," he replied, a small smile forming on his lips.

            "Agreed," she said.  She held out the silver flute with gold fastenings as he did likewise.  They sterilized the mouthpieces with their wands and played.  A perfect harmony came from the instruments, came from the opposites that were really quite alike in many ways.

*~*~*~*

This is where I leave you, for now.  And again, please review.


	5. Song of the Heart

A/N- Sorry it took so long.  Here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer- See chapter one

*~*~*~*

            Draco sat in the window seat of the Room of Requirement, his acoustic guitar in his hand.  His fingers transferred smoothly from string to string, an enchanting melody beginning.  He began to accompany his guitar with his deep, melancholy voice.  He didn't notice another figure slip silently into the room just before he sang the first note.

_"I have been blind, unwilling_

_To see the true love you're giving_

_I have ignored_

_Every passing_

_I'm on my knees_

_Confessing"_

Hermione stopped moving the moment she heard his voice and the song registered in her brain.  It was "My Confession" by Josh Groban and one of her all time favorites.

_ "That I feel myself surrender_

_Each time I see your face_

_I am staggered by your beauty_

_Your unassuming grace_

_And I feel my heart is turning_

_Falling into place _

_I can't hide_

_Now hear my confession"_

Draco's eyes were closed, an image of Hermione dancing in his head.  His thoughts wandered as he kept singing.

_"I have been wrong _

_About you_

_Thought I was strong_

_Without you_

_For so long_

_Nothing could move me_

_For so long_

_Nothing could change me"_

            Hermione watched the melancholy figure silently, amazed at the voice that was locked inside his cold, distant body

_Now I feel myself surrender_

_Each time I see your face_

_I am captured by your beauty_

_Your unassuming grace_

_And I feel my heart is turning_

_Falling into place_

_I can't hide_

_Now hear my confession"_

Draco was completely oblivious to Hermione's presence.

_"You are the air that I breathe_

_You're the ground beneath my feet_

_When did I _

_Stop believing_

_Cause I feel myself surrender_

_Each time I see your face_

_I am staggered by your beauty _

_Your unassuming grace"_

Draco thought that this song described Hermione perfectly.  She was drop-dead gorgeous and had this air of grace surrounding her like an aura.

_"And I feel my heart_

_Is falling into place_

_I can't hide_

_Now hear my confession_

_I can't hide_

_Now hear my confession"_

            Here, his voice stopped and a heart-felt guitar solo filled the silent room.

_"Hear my confession"_

Draco ended the song and leaned against the wall, his eyes still closed, catching his breath.  It was a really powerful song and it took most of his air supply to sing it and play it at the same time.  Hermione stood, slightly dazed, staring openly at Draco's figure.  Instantly, her love for him deepened.

            At that very moment, Draco opened his eyes and stood, preparing to leave.  He froze and his eyes widened in shock when they landed on Hermione.


	6. Confessions of the Soul

A/N: Thanks for your support. It means a lot to me and gives me courage and ideas for the next chapter. Oh, and sorry if Draco is too OOC. I'll try to either explain it or fix it. Whichever comes first. I'm also sorry that this may seem a little mushy. Feel free to ask for less fluff in reviews (hint, hint).

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

No one spoke, no one moved for a long time. Draco stared at Hermione and Hermione stared straight back at Draco. Neither one blinked.

Finally, Draco broke the silence with, "How long have you been standing there?"

Hermione hesitated but her gaze did not falter. "Since the beginning of the song," she said, hoping that he wouldn't be angry with her.

Draco sighed and put his hand over his face, his eyebrows drawing together in worry. His thoughts were racing. 'Does she know I love her? Who told her? No one could have figured it out, though, could they? Was it that obvious?'

Finally, Hermione said, "You know Josh Groban's music?"

Draco was startled out of his frantic thoughts to look her in the eye. "Yes," he said.

"He's my favorite singer. I love his voice," Hermione confessed.

For some odd reason, Draco's heart lifted a little. "I do too. I wish I could sing as well as he can."

Hermione blushed and said, "I think your voice is lovely."

Draco looked at her, a question in his gaze. "Really?"

She lowered her eyes and nodded.

He grinned and said, "Thanks."

There was silence.

All of a sudden, she asked, "Who were you singing for?"

"Excuse me?" Draco replied.

"That song. It was written for someone special and you were singing it for someone special. Who is she?" Hermione said, timidly taking a step toward him.

Draco didn't reply.

"Well, if you can't tell me her name, can you describe her to me?" she inquired, sitting gracefully on an armchair that magically appeared.

Draco hesitated for a moment, then looked right at her and said, "She is beautiful, with eyes like dark chocolate and hair like a bronze waterfall. She is smart, funny, and sensitive. She cares for everyone except those she believes to be on the dark side. She is loving and protecting, like a mother wolf, never leaving her loved ones' sides. She stands up for what she believes in, she is outspoken and maybe a little stubborn. And even though I've never heard it, I'll bet she sings like an angel." His eyes were glazed over now.

Hermione smiled slightly and said quietly, "Doesn't she return your love?"

Draco came back to Earth and replied with downcast eyes, "Not that I know of. As far as I know, she hates me. We've spoken on civil terms only twice. And even then, I could not tell her how I feel about her. She wouldn't accept it. I was mean to her, calling her foul names and insulting her family and friends."

"Do you regret that now?" Hermione asked. She was prying, and she knew it. But she wanted to know.

"More than anything. You have no idea…" he trailed off, never letting his eyes leave hers.


End file.
